1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in a wheel-cap mounting structure in which a wheel cap is mounted to a wheel of an automobile to cover an outer side face of the wheel.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a wheel-cap mounting structure conventionally known as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2635335 in which a plurality of pairs of support plates are projectingly provided on an inner wall of a wheel cap and arranged annularly so that each pair of the support plates are opposed to each other in a circumferential direction; a support leg having an elasticity is provided to rise vertically at a central portion of a bridging rod integrally connecting the support plates in each set to each other; a locking claw is formed at a tip end of the support leg and capable of being engaged into a locking recess in an inner peripheral surface of a rim of the wheel; and an annular setting spring is connected to the locking claws for biasing the locking claws in a direction to come into engagement in the locking recess.
In such a wheel-cap mounting structure, it is desired that the support leg having the locking claw formed thereon has a lower spring constant and a sufficient flexibility in order to enhance the durability of the support leg and improving the mounting property of the wheel cap to the wheel. However, the distance from the outer surface of the wheel to the locking recess is very short and hence, in the conventional structure, it is impossible to form the support leg sufficiently long particularly due to the presence of the bridging rod. Therefore, the spring constant of the support leg is increased, resulting in a poor flexibility and thus, it is difficult to say that the durability of the support leg and the mounting property of the wheel cap are good.